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Monday, September 9, 2013

Back to School Bateaux Tour

So Avery has started Kindergarten. To be honest I thought I'd be more emotional about it, but after two years of pre-school it felt like no big deal. She was so excited about it, and I am happy to have some more focused time to spend with just Ollie in the mornings.

Avery is pretty big for her age, but still really built like more of a toddler, which can make shopping for cute age-appropriate clothes kind of a challenge. So when Anneliese of Aesthetic Nest gave me the chance to be part of her Back to School Bateaux Pattern Tour. I happily accepted. I don't actually sew as often as I'd like, but I knew that I wanted to make Avery a few tops for school that would be really comfortable and functional and this pattern totally fit the bill. Plus, everything Anneliese makes is really detailed and perfect, so I knew her patterns would be no exception.

I can happily report that to be the case! It is a great, well thought out, easy to follow pattern with no mistakes. The Bateau pattern comes with many variations, all pretty simple to sew. I chose the pleated, button-backed version, because-- well buttons. I love them. And I found this amazing vintage knit trim (and stripe buttons) at Harmony Shop in Provo and knew I had to incorporate it somehow. Doesn't it remind you of like an old-school ski sweater. My hands got shaky when I spotted it I was so excited!

This pattern really lends itself to using trim because the hems are straight across. Other than that, I kept things pretty simple and followed the pattern straight-up, and it came together like a dream.

Anneliese suggests that you size up if using a less-stretchy knit, and I wish I had followed that advice. I made just a basic version of the plain t-shirt using a jersey knit to check the size, and it fit well so I thought I'd be OK, but I really should have followed her advice and sized up--especially because I wanted this to wear like more of a tunic. Ah well, next time.

Still, Avery is obviously very comfortable-- so much so that she won't hold still for a photo, so Success!

Anneliese has been kind enough to give away a copy of her pattern. Leave a comment to enter, and I'll pick a winner on Friday.

I was bigger than most of my classmates also... and I have a friend who's daughter is 3 and somewhere between a 6 and 7 size.... but still so very much a toddler! the clothes in stores for that age just are too grown up! I made a sweet night gown for her for winter that was still sweet and innocent but it's hard to find in stores so I feel for you.

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